Time.news – “Russia’s war with the West is no longer hybrid, but almost real”. The Minister of the Foreign Russian, Serghei Lavrov, at a press conference from South Africa. This was reported by the Ria Novosti agency
Meanwhile, Ukraine claims to have a urgent need for heavier armor in his war against the invasion of Russia. Kiev has a limited supply of tanks, most of which are from the Soviet or post-Soviet era. In addition to underlining the belief that Moscow intends to launch a significant new offensive in the coming months, Kiev and many of its allies believe that the war will end more quickly if Russia is defeated on the battlefield in the Ukrainian counter-offensives to retake Russian-occupied territory. . Ukraine is hampered by a shortage of tanks to support its operations and faced by increasingly deployed Russian forces with more modern and capable T-90s. The wide availability of Leopards, even in neighboring Poland, which wants to supply them to Ukraine, makes them attractive and suitable for Kiev. Ukraine has suggested it needs 300 tanks, while Western analysts believe 100 could likely shift the balance of the war.
The node of export licenses
As the tanks were supplied to countries with export licenses, the Germany can veto their re-export, although Poland has suggested it could simply ignore Germany and export its Leopards regardless. Germany’s position itself has been conflicting. Prefer a multilateral approach to arms supply to Ukraine rather than being seen as a unilateral move.
While Germany has supplied a large amount of equipment to Ukraine, it has also struggled with its post-WWII tradition of anti-militarism. The supply of main battle tanks had been considered problematic due to their much more obvious offensive capabilities.
The “Golf” of tanks
It is considered the ‘Golf’ of tanks, versatile and produced in almost 3,500 units: The Leopard 2, which Ukraine is clamoring to supply as soon as possible, is one of the most effective tanks on the battlefield. The wagon is a derivation of the Leopard which it replaced in 1979. It was born from a collaboration between Germany and the USA, but after a series of controversies only Germany remained to produce it and the USA opted for other solutions.
It is one of the most powerful vehicles, since its entry into service it has been updated several times, also because the Leopard 3 project has been abandoned. The latest version is the A7, improvements have been made to both the armor and the performance and electronics, including countermeasures. Armed with a 120/44 cannon (120/55 from the A6 on), with 42 rounds, the tank has two 7.62 caliber machine guns with 4,650 rounds and 8 smoke launchers. Weighing over 62 tons, it has a 1,500 horsepower diesel engine. The third generation composite armour, including steel, tungsten, plastic mixed with ceramics.
It has a range of approximately 500 kilometers and a maximum speed of 72 kilometers per hour. Leopard 2s have been deployed to Kosovo, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Syria (from Turkey), where many have been lost to anti-tank missiles. The tank was produced in 3,480 specimens and sold to many nations. The end of the Cold War also led Germany to record a large surplus of these vehicles, which were then resold on the used market. Italy had planned to acquire 300, but then preferred to develop its own tank, the Ariete.